Chinook salmon have returned to the Klamath River after 100 years

The Jefferson Exchange

OSU researchers gathered lineage data about a local population of Chinook salmon for over 13 years.(Courtesy of Oregon State University)

The first sighting of wild Chinook salmon in a stretch of the Klamath River that had been blocked by dams for over a century marks a pivotal milestone in the river's ecological restoration. Wild Chinook salmon have returned to waters upstream of the site where the Klamath River’s Iron Gate Dam once stood. The removal of a total of four dams in the Klamath River Basin was part of the largest river restoration project in U.S. history.

Joining the Jefferson Exchange to discuss the latest evolution in the process are three guests: Ken Brink, Vice-Chairman of the Karuk Tribal Council, Ren Brownell, Public Outreach Officer for the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, and Damon Goodman, Director of the Klamath, Mt. Shasta and Lassen region of the California Trout organization.

The sighting of Chinook in such a short time following removal of the four Klamath dams, an effort that took several decades, could serve as a model for future restoration projects across the United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.